Episode 387: I’m Talkin…Need

I’m Talkin’, episode 387 for September 14, 2025.

This is Joel from the I’m Talkin’ microcast, where I share my thoughts on a topic that has piqued my interest this past week.

This week, we’re talking need.

So need is an interesting word.

You think about how one might define that word.

And I think in school we’re taught early on about food, shelter, water.

Those are the things we need to survive.

And so you think of it in that terms.

But sometimes we get a little bit out of whack and need looks like want or desire.

And so we might have our balance of what is actually necessary in the sense of a need versus what is desired or we find maybe beneficial or maybe like to have or something like that.

And then the other thing is we rarely chase the things that we need.

We just kind of assume they’re going to be there.

We always run after those things that we desire or want.

And therein lies the challenge for those of us who call ourselves Christians.

So today’s word comes from Psalm 23, verse 1, which says, The Lord is my shepherd, I have all that I need.

All that I need.

That’s just crazy.

It’s kind of mind-blowing.

But as Christians, we recognize that God is all that we really need.

He has everything under his control.

He is sovereign.

He knows what’s going on in our lives.

He will provide the wants.

He can provide the desires.

We need to have our focus on who God is and what he wants us to do.

And then he will provide the things that are necessary for our existence.

And it’s really hard to grasp that.

I struggle with that a lot because there’s a lot of things that I want and then I try to define them as a need.

And it generally gets me in trouble one way or the other.

But here’s the reality of our life as a Christian.

The Lord is our shepherd, our guide, our deliverer, and he is all that we need.

And so everything that comes on top of that, everything else God gives to us is just a blessing, often undeserved.

We might call it, it’s all gravy.

We have the meat and potatoes.

We have the shelter.

Everything above that is something that God is just blessing us with.

And so our perspective changes when we have what we need and we can be satisfied with what we need.

And that means being satisfied in God.

Then everything else becomes secondary.

Man, I’m preaching to myself today.

Until next week, this is Joel from the I’m Talking Microcast.